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CHAPTER 19 - THE AGE OF NAPOLEON AND THE TRIUMPH OF ROMANTICISM
CHAPTER SUMMARY
This chapter deals with the period from about 1797–1820 and especially with the figure of Napoleon
Bonaparte: his rise to power, campaigns that conquered most of Europe, final defeat, and the settlement reached at
the Congress of Vienna. It goes on to discuss Romanticism, a new intellectual movement that spread throughout
Europe.
The government of the Directory represented a society of recently rich and powerful people whose chief
goal was to perpetuate their own rule. Their main opposition came from the royalists, who won a majority in the
elections of 1797. With the aid of Napoleon, the anti-monarchist Directory staged a coup d'etat and put their own
supporters into the legislature. Meanwhile, Napoleon was crushing Austrian and Sardinian armies in Italy. An
invasion of Egypt, however, was a failure. Upon his return (1799), Napoleon led a new coup d'etat and issued the
Constitution of the Year VIII, which established the rule of one man and may be regarded as the end of the
revolution in France.
Bonaparte soon achieved peace with Austria and Britain and was equally effective in restoring order at
home. In 1801, he reached an agreement with the pope. In 1802, a plebiscite appointed him consul for life and
granted him full power from a new constitution. A general codification of laws called the Napoleonic Code, soon
followed and in 1804, Napoleon made himself emperor Napoleon I with yet another constitution. In his decade as
emperor (1804–1814), Napoleon conquered most of Europe. He could put as many as 700,000 men under arms at
any one time and depended on mobility and timing to achieve the destruction of an enemy army.
The chapter next details Napoleon's impressive victory at Austerlitz (1805), setback at Trafalgar (1805) and
defeat of the Prussians and Russians that resulted in the Treaty of Tilsit (1807). Napoleon organized Europe into the
French Empire and a number of satellite states—over which ruled the members of his family. To defeat the British,
Napoleon devised the Continental System, which aimed at cutting off British trade with the European continent.
However, Britain's other markets (in the Americas and the eastern Mediterranean) enabled the British economy to
survive.
Napoleon's conquests stimulated liberalism and nationalism. As it became increasingly clear that
Napoleon's policies were to benefit France rather than Europe, the conquered states and peoples became restive. In
1808, a general rebellion began in Spain (over Napoleon's deposition of the Bourbon dynasty), and in 1810, the
Russians withdrew from the Continental System. The invasion of Russia that followed, along with the disastrous
retreat from Moscow in the winter of 1812–1813—exposed French weaknesses. A powerful coalition defeated the
French in the "Battle of Nations" (1813). In 1814, the allied army took Paris and Napoleon abdicated, going to the
island of Elba.
The Congress of Vienna met from September 1814 to November 1815. The arrangements were essentially
made by four great powers: Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia; the key person in achieving agreement was British
foreign secretary Castlereagh. The victors agreed that no single state should dominate Europe. Proceedings were
interrupted by Napoleon's return in March, 1815. They soon defeated him at Waterloo. The episode hardened the
peace settlement for France, but the Congress settled difficult problems in a reasonable way. No general war
occurred for a century.
A new intellectual movement known as Romanticism emerged as a reaction against the Enlightenment.
The Age of Romanticism was roughly 1780–1830. Romantic religious thinkers appealed to the inner emotions of
humankind for the foundation of religion. Methodist teachings, for example, emphasized inward, heartfelt religion
and the possibility of Christian perfection in this life. Romanticism glorified both the individual person and
individual cultures. German writers such as Herder and the Grimm brothers went in search of their own past and
revived German folk culture. Romantic ideas, then, made a major contribution to the emergence of nationalism by
emphasizing the worth of each separate people. Romantic thought also modified European understanding of Islam
and the Arab world, helping Europeans to see the Muslim world in a more positive light.
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OUTLINE
I. The Rise of Napoleon Bonaparte
A. Early Military Victories
B. The Constitution of the Year VIII
II. The Consulate in France
A. Suppressing Foreign Enemies and Domestic Opposition
B. Concordat with the Roman Catholic Church
C. The Napoleonic Code
D. Establishing a Dynasty
III. Napoleon’s Empire
A. Conquering an Empire
B. The Continental System
IV. European Response to the Empire
A. German Nationalism and Prussian Reform
B. The Wars of Liberation
C. The Invasion of Russia
D. European Coalition
V. The Congress of Vienna and the European Settlement
A. Territorial Adjustments
B. The Hundred Days and the Quadruple Alliance
VI. The Romantic Movement
VII. Romantic Questioning of the Supremacy of Reason
A. Rousseau and Education
B. Kant and Reason
VIII. Romantic Literature
A. The English Romantic Writers
B. The German Romantic Writers
IX. Religion in the Romantic Period
A. Methodism
B. New Directions in Continental Religion
X. Romantic Views of Nationalism and History
A. Herder and Culture
B. Hegel and History
C. Islam, the Middle East, and Romanticism
XI. In Perspective
KEY TOPICS
Napoleon’s rise, his coronation as emperor, and his administrative reforms
Napoleon’s conquests, the creation of a French Empire, and Britain’s enduring resistance
The invasion of Russia and Napoleon’s decline
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The reestablishment of a European order at the Congress of Vienna
Romanticism and the reaction to the Enlightenment
Islam and Romanticism
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. How did Napoleon rise to power? What groups supported him? What were his major domestic achievements?
Did his rule fulfill or betray the French Revolution?
2. What regions made up Napoleon’s realm, and what was the status of each region within it?
administration show foresight, or was the empire a burden he could not afford?
Did his
3. Why did Napoleon decide to invade Russia? Why did the operation fail?
4. What were the results of the Congress of Vienna? Was the Vienna settlement a success?
5. Why did Romantic writers champion feelings over reason? What questions did Rousseau and Kant raise about
reason?
6. Why was poetry important to Romantic writers? How did the Romantic concept of religion differ from
Reformation Protestantism and Enlightenment deism? How did Romantic ideas and sensibilities modify European
ideas of Islam and the Middle East? What were the cultural results of Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt?
LECTURE TOPICS
1.
Napoleon Bonaparte: Napoleon has been judged as a force for good by some who have viewed him as a
law-giver and reformer who spread revolutionary ideals throughout Europe. Others have viewed him as an
egomaniac whose lust for conquest and glory overshadowed any other secondary achievements. He was
certainly a military leader of genius, but his achievements inspire more philosophical thoughts about the
ability of the individual to change the course of history. Is history motivated by economic and social forces
over which individuals have no control? Or does the "hero" actually change history by force of personality
and ability? The figure of Napoleon is central to that debate, as are such figures as Alexander the Great,
Lenin, and Hitler.
2.
The Congress of Vienna: In this settlement, the Bourbon monarchy was restored in France and a nonvindictive boundary settlement left France satisfied. The settlement of eastern Europe divided the victors
and enabled Talleyrand, representing France, to join the deliberations. France, Britain, and Austria were
able to prevent Russia and Prussia from gaining all of Poland and Saxony respectively. The victors agreed
that no single state should dominate Europe; the concept of "balance of power" was formally put into
practice and proved to be successful for the next hundred years.
3.
The Romantic Movement: The immediate intellectual foundations of the movement were provided by
Rousseau and Kant. In England and Germany, the term "romantic" came to be applied to all literature that
failed to observe classical forms and gave free play to the imagination. English romantics included Blake,
Coleridge, Shelley, Wordsworth, and Byron. Perhaps the most important person to write about history at
this time was Hegel, who fostered the theory that ideas developed in evolutionary fashion. A predominant
set of ideas (the thesis) is challenged by a conflicting set (the antithesis), and out of the conflict emerges a
synthesis, which then becomes the new thesis.
3.
Islam and Romanticism: Under the influence of nationalistic aspirations and romantic sensibilities,
Europeans viewed Islam with ambivalence. On the one hand, the Ottoman Empire was reviled as the
repressor of independence movements such as the Greek Revolution of 1821; on the other, Europeans
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viewed the Crusades of the twelfth century through a romantic prism and stories from The Thousand and
One Nights were accorded prominence as mysterious and exotic. Napoleon was perhaps the most
important individual to reshape Islam and the Middle East in the European imagination. His Egyptian
campaign in 1798 opened new opportunities for Europeans to learn about Arabic history and Islamic
culture. Two cultural effects on the West of Napoleon’s invasion were an increase in the number of
European visitors to the Middle East and a demand for architecture based on ancient models. In the Middle
East itself, Napoleon’s invasion demonstrated western military and technological superiority, eventually
resulting in Ottoman reforms intended to help the empire compete with European states.
SUGGESTED FILMS
Napoleon: The Making of a Dictator. Lutheran Church in America. 28 min.
Napoleon: The End of a Dictator. Lutheran Church in America. 27 min.
The Hundred Days: Napoleon—From Elba to Waterloo. Time-Life. 40 min.
The Napoleonic Era. Coronet. 14 min.
Goya: The Disasters of War. Radim Films. 20 min.
Civilization XII: The Fallacies of Hope. Time-Life. 52 min.
Beethoven and His Music. Coronet. 12 min.
ATLAS OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION
Napoleonic Europe
Europe After the Congress of Vienna 1815–1852
German and Italian Unification
ASSET DIRECTORY
Images
This portrait of Napoleon on his throne by Jean Ingres (1780–1867) shows him in the splendor of an imperial
monarch who embodies the total power of the state. Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (1780-1867), “Napoleon on His
-Arts, Rennes. Photograph © Erich
Lessing/Art Resource, NY
The Coronation of Napoleon Jacques-Louis David recorded the elaborate coronation of Napoleon in a monumental
painting that revealed the enormous political and religious tensions of that event, which involved the kind of ritual
and ceremony associated with the monarchy of the ancient regime.
In this early-nineteenth-century cartoon, England, personified by a caricature of William Pitt, and France,
personified by a caricature of Napoleon, are carving out their areas of interest around the globe. Bildarchiv
Preussischer Kulturbesitz
Nicholas Appert (1749–1841) invented canning as a way of preserving food nutritiously. Canned food could be
transported over long distances without spoiling. Private Collection/Bridgeman Art Library
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Goya y Lucientes, Francisco de Goya, recorded Napoleon’s troops executing Spanish guerilla fighters who had
rebelled against the French occupation in The Third of May, l808. Francisco de Goya, “Los fusilamientos del 3 de
Mayo, 1808.” 1814. Oil on canvas, 8′6″
11′4″. © Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid
In this political cartoon of the Congress of Vienna, Tallyrand simply watches which way the wind is blowing,
Castlereagh hesitates, while the monarchs of Russia, Prussia, and Austria form the dance of the Holy Alliance. The
king of Saxony holds on to his crown and the republic of Geneva pays homage to the kingdom of Sardinia.
Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz
John Constable’s Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows displays the appeal of Romantic art to both medieval
monuments and the sublime power of nature. John Constable (1776–1837), “Salisbury Cathedral from the
Meadows,” 1831. Oil on canvas, 151.8 X 189.9 © The National Gallery, London
At the castle of Neuschwanstein King Ludwig II of Bavaria erected the most extensive neo-gothic monument of
central Europe. Josaf Beck/Getty Images, Inc.–Taxi
Caspar David Friedrich’s The Polar Sea illustrated the power of nature to diminish the creations of humankind as
seen in the wrecked ship on the right of the painting. Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany/A.K.G., Berlin/SuperStock
John Wesley (1703–1791) was the founder of Methodism. He emphasized the role of emotional experience in
Christian conversion. CORBIS/Bettmann
Joseph Mallord William Turner’s Rain, Steam, and Speed—The Great WesternRailway captured the tensions
many Europeans felt between their natural environment and the new technology of the industrial age. Joseph
Mallord William Turner, 1775–1851, “Rain, Steam, and Speed—The Great Western Railway 1844”. Oil on canvas,
90.8 X 121.9. © The National Gallery, London
When Napoleon invaded Egypt in 1799, he met stiff resistance. On July 25, however, the French won a decisive
victory. This painting of that battle by Baron Antoine Gros (1771–1835) emphasizes French heroism and Muslim
defeat. Such an outlook was typical of European views of Arabs and the Islamic world. Antoine Jean Gros (1771–
1835). Detail, “Battle of Aboukir, July 25, 1799,” c. 1806. Oil on canvas. Chateau de Versailles et de Trianon,
Versailles, France. Bridgeman–Giraudon/Art Resource, NY
Maps
Map 19–1 THE CONTINENTAL SYSTEM, 1806–1810 Napoleon hoped to cut off all British trade with the
European continent and thereby drive the British from the war.
Map 19–2 NAPOLEONIC EUROPE IN LATE 1812 By mid-1812 the areas shown in peach were incorporated into
France, and most of the rest of Europe was directly controlled by or allied with Napoleon. But Russia had withdrawn
from the failing Continental System, and the decline of Napoleon was about to begin.
Map 19–3 THE GERMAN STATES AFTER 1815 As noted, the German states were also recognized.
Interactive Maps
Map 19–4 EUROPE 1815, AFTER THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA The Congress of Vienna achieved the postNapoleonic territorial adjustments shown on the map. The most notable arrangements dealt with areas along
France’s borders (the Netherlands, Prussia, Switzerland, and Piedmont) and in Poland and northern Italy.
Timelines
NAPOLEONIC EUROPE
PUBLICATION DATES OF MAJOR ROMANTIC WORKS
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Documents
NAPOLEON MAKES PEACE WITH THE PAPACY
NAPOLEON ADVISES HIS BROTHER TO RULE CONSTITUTIONALLY
A GERMAN WRITER DESCRIBES THE WAR OF LIBERATION
MADAME DE STAËL DESCRIBES THE NEW ROMANTIC LITERATURE OF GERMANY
HEGEL EXPLAINS THE ROLE OF GREAT MEN IN HISTORY
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